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Saturday, May 10, 2014

The Regional Water Quality Control Board will be holding hearings May 22 & 23 in SLOTown and Agenda 14 will be consideration of Whatever Shall We Do About The Los Osos 45. Staff chief, Harvey Packard, doesn't even pretend to make sense in justifying his recommendation that the CDOs be kept in place. He claims (with no evidence) that the sewer might not be built ( Harvey, Seriously?) and that somebody out there in the community might refuse to hook up to the sewer when it's completed and so he thinks The 45 must be held hostage just in case that should happen because apparently he can't think of a way to deal with that possibility. Oh, Dude! Seriously?

Harvey, your previous Mad Hatter Tea Party "Trial" Board was an embarrassment and this ridiculous recommendation is not helping your new board -- or yourself -- at all.

Harvey's concluding opus followed by my letter to the Board:

Current Status

There are currently 33 orders
in effect. The orders require hookup when the community system becomes
available and the interim actions noted above.

During public comment and staff
updates at meetings over the years, the Central Coast Water Board has received
requests from order holders and other interested parties that the Central Item
No. 14 -3- May 22-23, 2014

Coast
Water Board rescind the orders. It is within the Central Coast Water Board’s
discretion to do so at a properly noticed public meeting.

Central Coast Water Board
enforcement staff recommends leaving the individual enforcement orders in place
for the following reasons:

1. The County has not yet
completed the community system, and while we are confident that it will, this
outcome is not guaranteed.

2. The main requirement of the
orders, hooking up to the sewer when it becomes available, cannot yet be
complied with. This requirement should stay in place until the system is
available.

3. Even when the system is
available, there may be dischargers in the prohibition zone who are reluctant
or refuse to hook up. Leaving these orders in place maintains a disincentive
for order recipients to continue violating the prohibition after construction
of the sewer system.

Staff has received numerous
comments on this subject. Most encourage the Central Coast Water Board to
rescind the orders. Reasons include the County’s progress toward completing the
community system, the cost of more frequent septic-tank pumping, the unfairness
of only holding a small number of dischargers responsible, and the continued
stigma of the orders. The comments are provided with this report.

ATTACHMENTS:

1. Example Cease and Desist
Order

2. Example Cleanup and
Abatement Order

3. Comments

My ReplyMay 9, 2014

Dear Mr. Packard and RWQCB Board Members:

Regarding the upcoming CDO
hearings for The Los Osos 45, your staff recommendation states you oppose
rescinding the CDOs because you believe (with no evidence proffered) that a few
of these people may be "reluctant or refuse to hook up" when the
sewer is completed. So you are recommending that the RWQCB declare
everyone of the 45 guilty before the fact and so continue to hold every one of
them hostage on the basis of that unsupported belief?

Mr. Packard, I have an alternate suggestion for your
Board. As then-chairman Young made clear from the dais during the CDO's
Mad Hatter Tea Party "trial," since the CDO's
were only being used as a coercive part of the Board's illegal
electioneering attempt, and since that assessment vote is long over, rescinding
the CDOs will help bring to a close that absolutely embarrassing chapter
in your Board's history, and help repair the RWQCB's credibility as it moves
forward under new leadership.

And, once the sewer plant is built and IF you find out there
actually are a few people who refuse to hook up, there's a simple
solution: Put a CDO on the homeowners
for an action that can be supported with actual evidence, not some kind of
before-the-fact "belief."

Please include a copy of this email to the Board as part of
the public comment on this matter.

The evidence Harvey Packard will introduce to substantiate his concerns are posts by Ron Crawford and emails Crawford has distributed to CDO recipients, telling them that they don't have to hook up because it's "illegal."

Oh, right! Ann and Ron said the emails are "non-existent." My bad.

There's even an effort among the sewer rabble-rousers to not pay the sewer portion of their property taxes out of protest, according to the County Assessor's Office.

People are giving Packard a reason to not rescind. So Ann and Ron, do Los Osos a huge favor and shut up.

"Even when the system is available, there may be dischargers in the prohibition zone who are reluctant or refuse to hook up. Leaving these orders in place maintains a disincentive for order recipients to continue violating the prohibition after construction of the sewer system."

What a great take: "Uh, the Bell Curve guarantees that not ALL PZers will gladly plop down $5-Gs to hook up to a sewer that they feel they don't even need, so I recommend that we continue hardcore enforcement on a bunch of completely innocent citizens, that way, WHEN people don't hook up, they'll be punishing their innocent neighbors."

WTF is up with that office? What an embarrassment. They can't think. First ol' Rog, then Jeffy, and now Harv?

And that's why I have a hunch that this entire sewer mess simply isn't going to work -- because it's being dictated by THAT office. THAT office.

And now even Paavo's jumpin' ship. Can't say I blame 'im.

Whada mess.

An a-loser writes:

"The evidence Harvey Packard will introduce to substantiate his concerns are posts by Ron Crawford and emails Crawford has distributed to CDO recipients, telling them that they don't have to hook up because it's "illegal.""

I sure hope he "introduces" those emails, that way I can finally read them and see WTF you're talking about.

Hey, anonaloser, quick question: Are you the same anonaloser/nutjob that stalked Ann at her work, and then harassed her co-workers?

All Harvey has to do is to look at Ann's blog and see Ron's rants. And you're right, Lynette. Crawford, himself, is not an issue for the Water Board. It's the people who believe him that are the issue.

The Moylans paid thousands of dollars believing in Ron's "case." Well, thanks for that and then some, Ron, you cross-eyed fruitcake. The Moylans were already suffering financially because they invested in the lawsuit that Ann promoted. Now they're closer to the gutter because some rambling lunatic who has the IQ of a dead kangaroo rat had a conspiracy theory that sounded somewhat interesting.

And no, I'm not the "anonaloser" that you think I am, but thank you for making me laugh. Speaking of stalking people, Pandora sure has a story to tell about your endeavors, Ron. I wouldn't even mention the word "stalking" if I were you. Just a word of advice, cupcake.

How come Ron isn't working with Cal Coast News? There are people over there just like him, with the same kind of condition, writing all sorts of stuff, and they don't care about being wrong or who gets hurt, either. And, like Ron, they never change their underwear. Seems like a perfect match to me.

Lynette sez:"I mean NOT hooking up is just as likely to be a person with an NOV! Isn't downgrading the CDO holders to an NOV holder more appropriate at this time?"

Exactly! Like, Duh? And Harvey can't figure that out? Really. Seriously. What the RWQCB did to 45 happless citizens was wrong. Wrong, stupid, useless, cruel. It cut short one nice old man's life and shortened another nice man's life, it disrupted health and lives, stressed out families and wasted money, it distracted and delayed moving the project forward, it wasted time and resources while doing absolutely nothing to improve water quality by so much as a drop. (and Anonymous says "nobody was harmed.," Not true. The entire CDO Mad Hatter Tea Party "Trial" distracted and delayed community focus that should have been kept on moving the project onward.)

It was an illegal bit of electioneering and a stupid abuse of regulatory authority conducted by a Board that was given a false narrative of this community and who were too lazy to go find out the facts.

It was, also, an example of sheer stupidity. Harvey (and a lot of the Anonnymice who post here) are a case in point. They believe that because someone somewhere writes something in a blog about compost toilets, or goes before the BOS to crank on about the sewer project, or (horrors) somebody out in the community MIGHT do something illegal sometime in the future, maybe, that 45 people who are NOT going to do anything illegal, people who have their laterals installed and are just waiting for the hook-up notice, must be held hostage, must have their property tangled up, must pay out thousands a year to unnecessarily pump their tanks more than recommended, thereby likely disrupting its proper functioning, all because Harvey can't think of a simple alternative. Toonces figured it out right quick. Rescind the CDOs and impose NOVs, just like all the rest of us. And if someone refuses to hook up when the sewer plant is completed, then both the County and the RWQCB can pay THEM a visit for an actual, real violation instead of some imagined one.

A P.S. There's something interesting in both Harvey's "reasoning" and in many of the Anonnymice's comments on this blog through the years and it's this: They all have in common a fear that a person who criticizes or writes about or speaks at the BOS on anything having to do with the sewer will somehow cause the project to go kerblooey.

It's a laughably irrational fear. In reality, nothing, short of a meteor strike, will stop the sewer. That was true the day the community survey was tallied and a short time later the assessment vote was tallied. Done and done.

But the fear that kept showing up in so many Anonnymice comments here and now in Harvey's justification for continuing the CDO's on the 45 (that somebody somewhere MAY do "something") is palpable.

Of course, it's an irrational fear. But that sure does explain the anger, rage and fury that gets directed at me or Ron or anyone who dares point out anything even slightly critical of this project (even though what's under discussion is all ancient history). Fear-generated rage, spittle-out-of-the-mouth rage, fence-fighting anger, ankle-chewing fury that sends any reasonable discussion of things sewerish off into the Crazy Weeds.

"It was an illegal bit of electioneering and a stupid abuse of regulatory authority..."

You know what else it was? A GIGANTIC waste of public funds.

I have a copy of an email from a prosecutor from then-Jerry Brown's Attorney General's office, where she writes that the entire CDO prosecution mess was one of the most expensive cases to prosecute in that office's history.

"Speaking of stalking people, Pandora sure has a story to tell about your endeavors, Ron."

Thank you for that... that reminds me: Ya know, ANOTHER reason why those ridiculous, embarrassing, disastrous CDOs should be immediately rescinded, is because it can be argued that they are SOLELY a result of a failed political strategy.

Remember Pandora's great quotes the day after she lost the recall election in 2005?

"I hope the CSD gets fined out of existence..."

And then she phoned Roger, to launch her sickening "strategy" to go scorched-earth on everything Los Osos -- including its residents.

"I'd like to talk to you (Roger) about potential strategy [sic] from the property owners to stop a new board from stopping the project. I'll call you Thursday morning."

"I have just gotten off the phone with Roger Briggs."

And then a bunch of her followers simply lost their minds and actually emailed Roger, begging him to fine their neighbors "out of existence," including Pandora's former LOCSD Wastewater Subcommittee member, Jerry Gregory, who, as part of her sickening "strategy," wrote to Roger:

"Nothing in Los Osos Surprises me any more! If anything stupid can happen in this world it will happen in Los Osos. At Rose Bowker memorial I asked you to fine the Community of Los Osos if the Recall is successful. Well, I am asking you again. Please do this immediately and with the largest fine that is legal for you to do."

I like how you put the word "TRUST" in caps like you have a track record to be trusted.

See, here's the thing about Pandora. Did she write to the water board that she wanted to fine the district out of existence? Did she try to make bank by writing herself into the Tri-W project as the "Project Manager"? Sure, of course, but that was years ago. I know it sounds callous to dismiss what she's done like that, but here me out.

Pandora is no longer part of the project. The project is here. As part of Celebrate Los Osos, she's put together events and organized community projects that are actually constructive. She's turning lemons into lemonade.

What have you done, Ron? Really, what have you done beside repeating the same old garbage for the last decade? What have you done to make Los Osos any better? By writing half-cocked conspiracy theory articles that left you permanently banished from the New Times? By obsessing over Pandora and the Solutions Group? By harassing members of the Morro Bay Community Pool Project because you think Pandora has siphoned money from people? By calling and harassing Joe Woods of the Morro Bay Recs and Park Department because you think he's trying to help Pandora steal money from pool project donors? By giving faulty "legal" advice to Bill and Bev Moylan about not having to pay for the Tri-W assessment, and sending them into court to lose? By bragging about submitting your fact-deficient blogs to the Pulitzer committee?

You're a real piece of work, Ron. Real piece of work. I hope scientists name the next mental illness they discover after you. "Patient has Type 2 Crawford Disorder. Symptoms include talking through anus, heavy narcissism, and an addiction to cough syrup."

"It was an illegal bit of electioneering and a stupid abuse of regulatory authority..."

Where was any "proof" of illegal electioneering??? Any "proof" whatsoever??? or just meaningless "opinion"???

BTW, Does Crawford pay any property tax/sewer bond fees for any property owned by him in LO??? Pretty stupid for anyone to listen to that town drunk, much less follow any "advice" or "legal opinion" from him!

Anon 1:51 sez: "half the town wants these insane cdos to stay in place just because it pisses certain people off. everybody just relax."

Actually, 99.9999999% of the town has absolutely NO CLUE that the CDO's are still in place and/or what a CDO is.

Anon 3:31 quotes, "It was an illegal bit of electioneering and a stupid abuse of regulatory authority..."

then sez: " Where was any "proof" of illegal electioneering??? Any "proof" whatsoever??? or just meaningless "opinion"???"

Check out the RWQCB Mad Hatter hearing where Chairman Young was asked, What can we do to get rid of these CDOs, and he replied, from the dais, as Chairman, that the speaker needed "to vote the right way." Talk about a "strategy."

As additional evidence for "electioneering" being the real "strategy," and as an example of stupid regulatory abuse: Consider this, Anon 3:31, The CDO's are on the property owners, not on the septic tank, so when an owner sells the property, they do not dig up their septic tanks and take it with them. No, the septic tank remains in the ground, the CDO disappears (and is NOT refiled) and the new owner moves in free and clear and has NO CDO on either him or his home. Please explain to me how that "strategy" fits under the mandate that these CDO's were only operating under the notion that the RWQCB was simply focusing focus on "water quality"(their mandate) when you put a small number of people under jeopardy of devaluing their homes and/or losing their homes (unless they vote the right way,) require they do certain yearly expensive pumping and reporting -- in the name of "water quality" and only confined to 45 people-- but fail to even pretend that what you're doing is all about "water quality" when you FAIL to attach that jeopardy and those requirements (remember, it's all about "water quality) to the property's septic tank, which remains in place no matter who owns the home.

That one minor fact, a fact that you and 99.99999999999999999% of the community is utterly unaware of, gives the game away.

No one has been prosecuted, no property has been seized, no member of the RWQCB has been brought to trial.

YOU are utterly out of step and misleading with YOUR personal "opinions". Have you been forced to hookup to the sewer? YOU really don't have a clue what has taken place and will be taking place in the great Los Osos sewer war you have so vehemently promoted!!!

[Jeez, you anonalosers are a tough crowd: You gals whine about someone posting something you think is "opinion," but then when I do my usual kick-ass journalism, and dig up primary sources, make them available for public download, and then link directly to them, it's "stalking" and "harassing."]

Then, the anon writes:

"Sure, of course (Pandora did that) but that was years ago..."

Well, if you could read, as I show above, YES, that was years ago -- nearly a decade ago -- BUT here we are today, dealing with the leftovers of her failed, sickening "strategy." So, you know, that awful stuff she did back in 2005, is as current as May 22-23, 2014.

Which brings me straight to another point I've been pondering ever since Harvey decided to haul this entire mess back to the surface, in 2014, and this is great.

What the F was he thinking?

I mean, check out this time-line... it makes ZERO sense:

Here we all are, in 2014, and like Ann points out above, "99.9999999% of the town has absolutely NO CLUE that the CDO's are still in place and/or what a CDO is."

Then, out of the f-ing blue, ol' Harv says to himself, "Hey, I've got a great idea. I'm going to toss those forgotten CDOs on a Board agenda, just to see how we should proceed."

THEN, he actually contacts community members to solicit comments for his little idea.

So, of course, at that point, the other .0000001 of us that do care about this excellent and important story (I mean, c'mon... journalistically speaking, look at this story -- regulatory abuse, massive waste of public funds, back-room/sickening "strategies" that send completely innocent citizens to the hospital (or worse), and it involves Jerry Brown [and in a VERY interesting way] -- it's unbelievably great!) read about Harv's idea, we naturally think that he's finally come to his senses, and is now looking for a way out of this mess, and, well, we're more than happy to oblige by supplying him with take after excellent take on why he should recommend that those CDOs just go away.

THEN, of course, his bosses on the Board get absolutely (and deservedly) pummeled in public comment -- that Harvey requested BEFORE he popped out his "recommendation" -- as "embarrassing," "lazy," "ridiculous," "repair the RWQCB's credibility," with all these demands for apologies, and, my personal favorite (because it came from me), that Board member, Jeff Young, immediately resign, because he's lazy, and, therefore, fails to do his job (which results in disastrous consequences).

THEN, ol' Harv -- who now has the PERFECT "out" for the CDO mess (i.e. the agency he works for is an "absolute embarrassment" -- pops out his staff report, and his recommendation is to do nothing:

"Uh, yeah, my recommendation? Just keep everything the exact same it was before I thought up this terrible idea of dragging our entire Los Osos CDO embarrassment back to the surface... for really no reason whatsoever. Good lord, what the f was I thinking? Wow. I REEEEEELLY didn't think that one through."

I mean, HUH?

Uh, Harv? Why did you even bring it up in the first place if your recommendation is to do nothing?

See? That time-line makes zero sense.

I guess my point is, that is another perfect example of how that office just can't seem to think -- their track record on thinking things trough is horrible, with disastrous (and very, very expensive) consequences.

[Uh, a little behind-the-scenes at SewerWatch: I LOVE how much you anonalosers hate me. Just ask 'toons. She knows I eat that stuff up. She figured that out a long time ago.]

By the way, it'll be interesting to see if any other of the local, so-called "media" write one word on Harvey's Item 14. It's such an amazing story, as I show above. (Heck, even Bruce submitted good public comment.)

I've got a 12-ver of Heineken that says they don't. ; -)

P.S. That reminds me... I've been meaning to supply this: Here's the link to the primary source documentation for Item 14, including all the great public comment in "Attachment 3." [And, I know, I know, anonalosers: I'm now "stalking" and "harassing" the RWQCB, simply because I linked directly to their primary sources. My apologies to the RWQCB.]

"THEN, (Harvey) actually contacts community members to solicit comments for his little idea (BEFORE he popped out his recommendation)... So, of course, at that point... we naturally think that he's finally come to his senses, and is now looking for a way out of this mess."

Well, after I supplied that link to the Item 14 documentation, yesterday, I was re-reading some of the public comment (Attachment 3) and I saw a great example of my point, above.

"Dear Mr. Packard, I support and encourage your proposal to the Water Board; that they consider removing the punitive and costly 'Los Osos 45' CDO's..."

See? That's what we ALL thought was happening -- that Harvey was getting ready to propose "removing the punitive and costly 'Los Osos 45' CDO's."

I mean, why else would he be bringing up that ancient history?

But then, Harvey throws everyone a wicked sinker, and recommends "leaving these orders in place."

So, now, that poor commenter's take is all confusing. She wrote to "support and encourage" Harvey's assumed proposal of finally getting rid of that terrible, hardcore enforcement on a bunch of completely innocent citizens, but Harvey's REAL proposal turned out to be the exact opposite, which means her comment can now be interpreted as SUPPORTING Harvey's REAL "proposal" of "leaving these orders in place."

If I was that commenter, I'd be pissed. She was set up to be confusing.

I also want to point out that Harvey writes, "Staff has received numerous comments on this subject," and every single shred of those "numerous comments" says, "LOSE THE CDOs!"

THEN, after encouraging, and then digesting, all of that public comment for his staff report -- that ALL says "LOSE THE CDOs" -- Harv recommends "leaving these orders in place."

Again, that makes ZERO sense.

Which means Item 14, at the May 22-23 meeting is going to be very, VERY interesting: If the Board goes with Harv's bait-and-switch recommendation, and "leaves the orders in place," then it is going to show that the RWQCB is STILL the exact same Roger Briggs/Jeff Young/Les Bowker embarrassment it's been for the past 15 years, however, if the Board sides with the "numerous comments" (including Supervisor Gibson's excellent comments [by the way, I noticed Clift didn't supply any comments]) then that will signify a real, concrete change of course to -- as Ann perfectly notes -- "repair the RWQCB's credibility."

...and how will the Los Osos activists repair "their" very own extremely negative credibility???

The RWQCB doesn't have to do one darn thing until the WWTF is operational and no further legal delays are thrown in the path. The property owners are encouraging the RWQCB to let the CDO/NOV's stay in place until the WWTF is operational! We know that no one has been harmed or property owner fined. All we have heard is the same few complaining and in some cases filing suits to halt or delay the long needed sewer. Keep the CDO's in place!!!

Anon 2:05 pM sez" The property owners are encouraging the RWQCB to let the CDO/NOV's stay in place until the WWTF is operational!"

Who are "the property owners" you speak of, and how many letters in the various public comments submitted on this Agenda Item asked that the CDO's be kept in place? I sure missed that letter/email. Most of the comments I read said, dump the CDOs, including Supervisor Gibson. So, who are these "property owners?"

This August our fourth septic tank pump since 2006 is due at a cost of approximately $500 each. For all the good these pumps are doing for water quality in the basin, and for all the harm they are doing to our septic tank, the $2000 we will have spent on pointless pumping by this August could have paid for about half our sewer hookup. Though we have twice offered our critics the opportunity to meet us at the water board to trade their NOV for our CDO, not one of them has accepted. In seven years no one has offered to take these "harmless" orders off the hands of any CDO recipient.

"Anon 2:05 pM sez" The property owners are encouraging the RWQCB to let the CDO/NOV's stay in place until the WWTF is operational!"

Who are "the property owners" you speak of, and how many letters in the various public comments submitted on this Agenda Item asked that the CDO's be kept in place?"

I can take a stab at that answer.

Well, as I show above, and as we all know now, there's a certain segment of Los Osos property owners that don't operate in front of the scenes.

No.

THOSE property owners always sneak around behind-the-scenes to implement their sick and twisted "strategies," like fining the entire community of Los Osos "out of existence."

So, Anon 2:05's take WOULD explain Harvey's nonsensical recommendation -- Pandora and her followers are, it's my guess, just sneaking around behind-the-scenes (after all, that IS their M.O.) and phoning their friends at the RWQCB, and requesting that their "strategy" to fine Los Osos "out of existence" remain "in place."

Which DOES explain Harv's recommendation.

Can't say I blame 'em, though, after all, their twisted "strategy" has been working perfectly for the past nine years, considering that many Los Ososans are no longer in "existence" DUE to that sick "strategy." Why stop now?

However, I must admit, this public comment situation has me scratching my head. I mean, is Pandora now mad at Bruce, because Bruce is advocating that the RWQCB stop doing her sick "strategy?"

And, then, on the flip side, how does Bruce square all of this up? For example, here he is, pleading with the RWQCB, over and over again, to STOP fining Los Ososans out of existence, yet, the person that masterminded the "strategy" to fine Los Ososans "out of existence" in the first place, Pandora, is Bruce's own Parks Commissioner, that he keeps re-appointing to an official County seat... over, and over, and over again.

So, that doesn't square-up at all, and makes about as much sense as Harvey's recommendation.

Apparently Ron the Alcoholic is jealous of Pandora as poor Ron can't get appointed to " Bruce's own Parks Commissioner, that he keeps re-appointing to an official County seat... over, and over, and over again."

What a loser Crawford is and always has been. Time to change your Depends and check into a rehab center Ron.

Pandora could care less about what Crawford babbles, she has much more class than to even reply to that drunk!!!

Anon 10:45 sez " Name ONE property owner in Los Osos who has been "fined out of existence"...!!!"

This statement indicates to me that author doesn't know what has been legally hanging over the heads of the 45. I also have to question whether the author attended the Mad Hatter Trials and saw that incredible and awful mixture of unchecked regulatory power, personal pique, whim, and sheer incompetence, all of which put the 45 and their homes under daily threat. I would also have to ask whether Anon 10:45 went to the Board and, as Bev noted, asked that they change their NOV to a CDO. No? I thought not.

And now another question. Harvey Packard, out of the blue, contacted the Moylans some time ago and asked them to contact the other 45 and get them to appeal to the board to consider rescinding the CDO's. This was entirely Harvey's idea and the Moylans, rightly, told Harvey that contacting the 45 was HIS job since he had all the contact info on these folks. So he did. HE ASKED THEM to write to the Board, etc. and get the item on the agenda for the upcoming meeting. Then, after folks, including Supervisor Gibson, wrote in, all recommending dumping the CDOs so we can all move on, Harvey comes up with this ridiculous excuse for keeping them in place i.e. somebody, somewhere in the community might refuse to hook up to the sewer once it goes on line so the 45 have to remain hostages.

So, why did he bother with this sick charade in the first place? Seriously. His excuse makes him look like a fool. His asking for letters then pulling a Lucy/Linus and the Football maneuver is an example of mere WHIM and makes no sense. All of which makes the Board look (again) foolish, like THIS GUY is their CEO????

All the hysterics of Ann and Bev are all about rejection of ANY government authority over anything in Los Osos!!!

Get over it Ann, just because you author this blog doesn't mean that you know anything about Los Osos. You've sued and you lost. You didn't get your way with the type sewer we're getting. The ONLY thing you got was a much, much more expensive sewer/WWTF than was necessary.

Anyone forced out of their homes is directly because of YOU and the crazy activists!!!

"Then, after folks, including Supervisor Gibson, wrote in, all recommending dumping the CDOs so we can all move on, Harvey comes up with this ridiculous excuse for keeping them in place..."

Well, I think we can finally see WHY that happened, from Anon 2:05's quote:

"The property owners are encouraging the RWQCB to let the CDO/NOV's stay in place....

Which explains, perfectly, Harvey's "ridiculous excuse."

THE Property Owners have spoken.

See, people like Ann and Bev, and the other 95-percent of the PZ are just "property owners," but then, as Anon 2:05 points out, there are THE Property Owners, and when THE Property Owners do their sneak-around-behind-the-scenes thing, like they did with their disgusting "strategy" to have Los Osos "fined out of existence," well, that's when people like Roger, Jeff, and Harvey sit-up and listen.

I can show a PERFECT example of what I'm talking about here -- about how THE Property Owners do and say one thing in front of the scenes, and then demand the exact opposite from their influential friends when they sneak around behind-the-scenes.

Two documents: One of Pandora's "Save the Dream" newsletters (where she used her own "non"-profit to hire and pay her own marketing business), and her quotes found in those not-meant-for-public-consumption emails that Julie Tacker pried out of the RWQCB with a brilliant Public Records Act request.

In her front-of-the-scenes newsletter, Pandora writes:

"More delays mean the LOCSD may be fined out of existence."

In her behind-the-scenes emails to her influential friends in government, Pandora writes:

"I hope the CSD gets fined out of existence ..."

In her front-of-the-scenes newsletter, Pandora writes:

"(If the Recall is successful) We’d lose local control. The County or State would take over our Project, assume the permit and build the same Project in the same location."

In her behind-the-scenes emails to her influential friends in government, Pandora writes:

"... could the LOCSD transfer the sewer project to the county BEFORE the current CSD-3 leave office?"

Front-of-the-scenes?:

"Celebrate Los Osos!"

Behind-the-scenes?

"I hope the (Los Osos) CSD gets fined out existence..."

See? You peon "property owners" don't mean a thing, as long as THE Property Owners are sneaking around behind-the-scenes influencing their influential friends, which explains, perfectly, Harvey's nonsensical recommendation.

Quick poll: Everyone reading this that has hosted a SLO County District Attorney candidate at your house, during this current campaign season, raise your hand.

What I have never seen, what I would like to see now, would be statements from those who chose to settle.

Off the Water Board's Staff report,

Ultimately, the Central Coast Water Board issued 13 cease and desist orders, 25 parties accepted settlement agreements in the form of cleanup and abatement orders, and 7 parties agreed to settle but never signed the agreements.

Thirteen people took one stance against the Water Board. Twenty-five took a different one, seven were maybe on the fence or maybe just lazy. Thirteen took on a presumable financial burden to pay for the lawsuit against the Water Board (we don't know, as we never saw anything but heavily redacted financial statements, we know what the LOCSD paid, but not anyone else). Thirteen took on the emotional burden of fighting. But MOST did not.

Did these settlement people feel themselves to be anguished victims? Did they take a more global viewpoint? What was their emotional response? How did they cope?

As we know, we CHOOSE our own response to events in our lives. As we know, life is not fair. If we are troubled by life's events, it is our responsibility to get mental help. Some people go through wars and somehow come out mentally balanced, others live anguished lives afterward. It would be useful to know how those who settled COPED with the CDOs. Maybe they could offer some advice to those not doing so well.

Anon 7:48 sez: "All the hysterics of Ann and Bev are all about rejection of ANY government authority over anything in Los Osos!!!"

Incorrect, as usual.

Anon 7:48 also sez: " You didn't get your way with the type sewer we're getting."

Incorrect, again, as usual. If you were familiar with Calhoun's Cannons, for YEARS, my one, singular leitmotiv during the sewer wars was to press for a "Chinese Menu" choice, with realistic price tags for each option, campaign hard for your choice, hold a Vote, then Shut Up." That finally happened. True the "vote" promised turned out to be a "survey," but that was better than nothing, and once those surveys were in, it turned into history. Game over. Train left the station. Except for the often hilariously Crazy Weeds conversational fun.

And 7:48 sez, "Anyone forced out of their homes is directly because of YOU and the crazy activists!!! "

Incorrect, again and again. You need to go back and read Ron's History of the Sewer Wars from the beginning and it's there you'll find several key "turnout" points that the community and the regulators and the Coastal Commission COULD have saved this community, then go back and read my many columns hollering that the community needed to pay attention, wake up, Hellooooo, speak up or you'll get stuck with the train wreck that's coming. I even begged the CSD NOT to start ripping up TRI-W weeks before the election. I knew what that "F.U. and the horse you rode in on" action would do. Did they listen to me? Nooooo. So go peddle your phony blame game someplace else.

Toonces sez:" It would be useful to know how those who settled COPED with the CDOs."

I got a great idea. You could contact Harvey and ask him to switch your NOV over to a CDO, have your tank pumped, have that burden on your property (should you ever decide to re-fi, for example,)then you could report out to us whether you think that extra burden on you is o.k. with you while the rest of us skate free? Knowing all the while that that CDO is a totally useless, pointless waste of time and your money. And also knowing that at a whim, (or perhaps at the request and urging of "THE" Property OWners, Harvey & Company could render your home's worth down to zero with the stroke of a pen, or make up some whimsical, ridiculous, useless burden to put on you without rhyme or reason. (Consider Harvey's "reasoning" for keeping the CDOs in place on this upcoming hearing. The absurdity of his "explanation" should give pause to anybody who thinks Harvey or the RWQCB is rational.)

Ron sez:See, people like Ann and Bev, and the other 95-percent of the PZ are just "property owners," but then, as Anon 2:05 points out, there are THE Property Owners, and when THE Property Owners do their sneak-around-behind-the-scenes thing, like they did with their disgusting "strategy" to have Los Osos "fined out of existence," well, that's when people like Roger, Jeff, and Harvey sit-up and listen"

I didn't see any letters in the Item 14 appendix asking that the CDOs be kept in place. I wonder if emails and/or phone calls to Harvey can be requested via FOI? You would think that ex-parte conversations are supposed to be reported out. Well, we'll see if any are next Thursday. Surely, there must be hundreds of voices of The Homeowners speaking out in favor of keeping the CDO's in place? Surely??

Emails? Easily. But THE Property Owners figured that out the hard way when we caught them (through Julie's brilliant PRA request) sneaking around behind-the-scenes implementing their sick "fine out of existence" "strategy."

Phone calls are a MUCH harder FOIA... which is why, I'm sure, THE Property Owners are just sticking to phoning their friends... this time around.

But, what I'm very interested in seeing next Thursday, is whether THE Property Owners have also managed to Jedi Mind-Trick the new blood on the Board.

Let's take new board member (and Chair), Dr. Wolff, for example.

I've actually spoken with him a few times over the years about the wine business, and he's a REALLY nice guy.

Not only is he a PhD, but he's a vineyard owner and a respected winemaker, which means he's also hard-working and meticulous (you know, the exact opposite of Jeff Young).

So, here's what I'll be looking for on Thursday, and this is great:

In his report, Harvey writes:

"Through a lengthy multi-year process of evaluation and public meetings, the Los Osos CSD developed a technically, environmentally, and financially sound community wastewater project."

Well, as I clearly show in my comments to Harvey (before he wrote that), what he wrote there is not even close to being accurate.

In fact, as I show starting on page 34 of the pdf file, and using nothing but the County's excellent primary source evidence, the exact opposite of what Harvey writes there is true.

So, considering that I showed Harvey all of the primary source evidence that shows that the Tri-W disaster turned out to be the exact disaster I first exposed it to be in my 2004New Timescover story, BEFORE he wrote:

"... the Los Osos CSD developed a technically, environmentally, and financially sound community wastewater project."

... that Harvey, in his official report, is now simply lying to Dr. Wolff.

But, like I show above, Dr. Wolff is smart, and NOT lazy like Jeff.

All he has to do is read my comments, follow the 3 or 4 links I supply directly to the primary source evidence, and then simply ask himself:

"Well, o.k., Harv, if the Los Osos CSD's 'project' was SO 'technically, environmentally, and financially sound,' then where the F is it? Why didn't the County build it if it was SOOOOOO 'technically, environmentally, and financially sound?'"

Then, Dr. Wolff is going to read the quote from Jeff I supply, where Jeff says that the CDOs would have never even happened had Los Osos voters not put the Tri-W disaster "on blocks," in 2005.

So, being the smart, hard-working person that he is, Dr. Wolff has just got to be shaking his head right now, and saying to himself:

"So, let me see if I have this straight: This board allowed the Los Osos CSD to waste seven years developing one 'infeasible' disaster after another without ever lifting a finger, and then, when the voters of Los Osos FINALLY did this Board's job in 2005 -- by stopping the Tri-W disaster -- this Board turned right around in went hardcore enforcement on a bunch of completely innocent citizens, just because those citizens were forced to do OUR job, simply because this Board got lazy, and, therefore, badly confused on the feasibility of the Tri-W disaster?"

And that is EXACTLY what happened.

Then, if I was Dr. Wolff, I would immediately call for a vote to fire Harvey for lying to me in his report.

However, this Thursday, if he sticks with Harv's senseless recommendation, I can only draw one conclusion: THE Property Owners did their usual sneak-around-behind-the-scenes thing, and they got to him.

Ron: What is going to be interesting, come Thursday, is to see if the Board accepts Harvey's ludicrous reasoning in his recommendation to not do anything and so keep the CDOs in place.

PLUS, whether the board (and the very smart Mr. Wolff) knows that it was HARVEY who suggested this whole thing in the first place. Then, once the whole thing is set up as an agenda item, Harvey turns around and recommends that nothing be done and gives his cockamamie reason why nothing should be done.

WTF???? Why would he deliberately set the CDOers up like that? And waste the Board's time and staff time and taxpayers money on this ridiculous charade?

Calhouns Can(n)ons

About the Can(n)ons

Calhoun's Can(n)ons was originally published in 1990 in the (now defunct) Morro Bay, CA, Sun Bulletin, and since 1992 has continued in the various resurrections of the Los Osos, CA. Bay News, Bay Breeze, Bay News, Bay News-Tolosa Press. A few years ago, the Can(n)on was added to the Central Coast NewsMission blogsite. Ann Calhoun lives in Los Osos. You can email her at Churadogs at gmail dot com

To be persuasive, we must be believable. To be believable, we must be credible. To be credible, we must be truthful. Edward R. Murrow

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; the essential is invisible to the eye.Antoine de Saint-ExuperyThe Little Prince

No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the misfortune is to do it solemnly. Montaigne